Allen recently retired but has found little time to do the writing that was on her priority list. She retired as Executive Director of the education foundation of Utah's second largest public school district. Until 2011, she also served for sixteen years as a member of the Utah House of Representatives. During her House tenure, she served as national president of the Women's Legislative Network of the National Conference of State Legislators. Allen was named as National Legislator of the Year in 2006 by Americans for the Arts. She because active in other legislative areas including international trade, economic development, education, and ethics issues to name a few. She hopes to use that background to promote greater equality with the Vision 2020 project.

She currently serves on numerous boards including Utahns for Ethical Government, Utah Common Cause, Utahns for Public Schools, the University of Utah Alumni Association, KUED Advisory Board (PBS station), Alliance for a Better Utah, and the Colorado Plateau Archeological Alliance.